8.7: Festivals

Question 1

Rosh Hashanah:

Answer 1

• First day of Jewish year and reminds them of the creation story
• Time to reflect on behaviour and make peace before judgement on Yom Kippur.
• Shofar blown 100 times (wake people up to their sins).
• It is commanded to do so in the Torah

Question 2

Yom Kippur:

Answer 2

• Holiest day of the year
• Day of atonement (becoming right with God).
• Seek forgiveness from God and people
• Fast for 25 hours
• Jews will confess their sins, this is similar to the sacrifices made in the Torah

Question 3

Pesach (Passover):

Answer 3

• Remembering God ‘passed over’ Egypt to free Jews from slavery.
• The festival is a celebration of the freedom/liberation of the Jewish people after years of slavery in Egypt.
• It is a reminder of God’s love
• The seder plate has symbolic food.

Question 4

Shavout:

Answer 4

• Celebrates the giving of the Law to Moses and the wheat harvest.
• Celebrated with extra Torah study and decorating the synagogue with greenery (connected to harvest, growth of plants)

Question 5

Sukkot:

Answer 5

• Reminder of the shelters lived in while travelling through the desert after Egypt.
• Jews live in temporary shelters for a week.

Question 6

Divergent ways of celebrating festivals:

Answer 6

• Orthodox Jews believe they must keep to all parts of the festival celebration for example at Rosh Hashanah orthodox Jews will celebrate it longer than reformed. It is a sign of identity and continuing ways of life.
• Reformed Jews festivals are more about community and making them relevant for today therefore all customs may not always be celebrated

Question 7

Festivals - Sources of Wisdom:

Answer 7

• “Everything has its season…a time to weep and a time to laugh”
  (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4)
• “There shall be a rest day for you [Rosh Hashanah], a remembrance with shofar blasts”
  (Leviticus 23:24)